Initiative Priorities
The Design Innovation Initiative is focusing on the following key priorities to continue to provide an environment for our students to become innovators, activators and cultivators who evolve strong, collaborative design innovation mindsets:
- DI Grand Challenges - Donations support student involvement on interdisciplinary teams to address real and impactful challenge-based innovation projects. Funds may be used to support student travel, materials, machine use and other needs in pursuit of their challenge objectives.
- DI Fellows Program - Donations fund student Fellows who engage in challenge-based innovation projects and events such as the annual Fashion Tech Hackathon and bi-annual SkyHack Competition. Fellows must complete a series of collaborative, creative innovation experiences to be included in this program. Private gifts support students and their project expenses. Each fellowship requires $1,500 per year of support.
- DI Reactor/DI Ecosystem - The DI REACTOR serves as the core of a collaborative series of makerspace environments inside the DI Hub, connected to the DI Nodes across the university. Gifts provide support to ensure continual access for students to these resources, especially students who face financial challenges.